He sees the Eastern Conference is wide open, and the Pacers needed to do something to be legitimate contenders. O'Neal said the eight-player deal to essentially acquire Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy for Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson is the answer.

O'Neal has that much faith in Dunleavy and Murphy, two players who were considered disappointments with the Warriors.

"I think they're really going to fit in because of their shooting and their ability to spread the defense," O'Neal said. "Almost every game we see zones because teams are trying to slow me down. Those guys will get ample shots from the outside. I'm really excited about the opportunity to play with these guys."

This is the second year in a row the Pacers have traded away a key member of their rotation. Last year, it was Ron Artest for Peja Stojakovic, but that trade was done to remove a headache more than anything else.

Getting Dunleavy and Murphy, in the Pacer's eyes, was about improving. O'Neal said the Pacers now have enough in place to compete with Miami, Detroit, Cleveland and the other pretenders in the weaker Eastern Conference.

O'Neal doesn't see any dominant team.

"It seems like every time a team gets hot, they hit a span where they struggle a little bit," O'Neal said. "It's fortunate for us because we're struggling, too. We're trying to find our way. ... Hopefully we can get ourselves together and come the second half of the season some of these other teams are going to have to play catch-up with us."

The Pacers still are going to struggle while Dunleavy and Murphy try to fit in. Coach Rick Carlisle knows there will be an adjustment period, and he said two weeks is the minimum for any player joining a new team.

A realistic expectation is the Pacers will start to play like a cohesive unit around the All-Star break in mid-February.

"This trade is going to redefine our team a little bit," Carlisle said. "We're going to look to do things as simply as we can moving forward. There are some things we're going to scrap because some of our key guys are gone.

"We have one of the best post players in the game. We needed to bolster our outside shooting. We think Murphy and Dunleavy both shoot the ball well. When you have a guy like Jermaine, you need to protect him with shooters."

One player who will benefit from the trade is second-year swingman Danny Granger. Harrington and Jackson were the Pacers' second and third scoring options behind O'Neal. The No. 2 role should belong to Granger now.

Dunleavy and Murphy are considered role players, and Dunleavy is the only one averaging double figures in points (11.4). Granger, as evidenced by his career-high 28 points in the Pacers' 104-101 loss against the Heat on Thursday night, is capable of scoring when called upon.

Carlisle said Granger is "ready to step it up" and become more involved in the offense.

"It's a big opportunity for me," Granger said. "It opens up a lot, and I'll try to take advantage of it to the best of my ability. I definitely look at it as they have a lot of trust in me. I don't really want to let them down."

Nearly every player in the Pacers locker room said they were shocked to hear of the trade. Harrington, in his second stint in Indiana, was well-liked by his teammates, as was Jackson.

But Granger and Jeff Foster said Jackson could use a change of scenery. Jackson had legal troubles in Indiana and was suspended for one game in December after making remarks to Carlisle following a substitution that the coach deemed "inappropriate and detrimental."

"I think that's good for him and probably good for us," Foster said of Jackson being traded. "Everybody here loves him, but he had a black cloud over him in Indiana. He gets a fresh start."

O'Neal also wanted to make it clear that his comments following a Jan. 4 game against the Mavericks did not spur the trade of Harrington, Jackson, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Josh Powell for Dunleavy, Murphy, Ike Diogu and Keith McLeod.

O'Neal said his words were taken out of context.

"Everybody's trying to put my comments a couple of weeks ago on the trade, like I forced the trade," O'Neal said. "I didn't force a trade. That was me being frustrated with our team and our effort on the court. I wanted to motivate not only myself, but those guys. I wanted to make sure everybody was on board with it."

But now that the trade happened, O'Neal is excited about the possibilities. He said Dunleavy and Murphy are going to do well in the Eastern Conference.

They are going to turn the Pacers into contenders.

"Those guys are matchup problems, especially in the East," O'Neal said. "On the West Coast, they play small. I don't think those guys fit into that type of system out West. I think now they're going to benefit because they're going to come into a situation where they have a post player that demands double teams. If they double team me, they're going to get easy shots."

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

odeez

01-20-2007, 12:06 PM

See JO is fine with this trade. It is business and he know it. So lets watch tonight and see how it goes.

Jermaniac

01-20-2007, 12:26 PM

OMG Will he shut up. Why cant he give this some time. Why does he hate the trade. OMG Jermaine, you always hate everything. Trade him.

rexnom

01-20-2007, 12:29 PM

OMG Will he shut up. Why cant he give this some time. Why does he hate the trade. OMG Jermaine, you always hate everything. Trade him.
:laugh:
This is what JO gets for being so friendly and open to the media.

able

01-20-2007, 01:06 PM

http://www.pacersdigest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28469

Mourning

01-20-2007, 01:07 PM

OMG Will he shut up. Why cant he give this some time. Why does he hate the trade. OMG Jermaine, you always hate everything. Trade him.

:lol:

ABADays

01-20-2007, 01:16 PM

OMG Will he shut up. Why cant he give this some time. Why does he hate the trade. OMG Jermaine, you always hate everything. Trade him.

When basketball comes to an end I see talk shows as his calling.

kerosene

01-20-2007, 03:00 PM

"Dunleavy and Murphy are considered role players"

Those are some expensive role players.

Unclebuck

01-20-2007, 03:09 PM

"Dunleavy and Murphy are considered role players"

Those are some expensive role players.

No one has ever said they aren't grossly overpaid. Even their biggest fans would agree with that.

----

I found this quote from Rick interesting

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/preview_070120.html

We certainly want to able to do some things off of flow," Carlisle said. "We set up to be a better movement team than we’ve been because guys like Murphy and Dunleavy and Diogu play well in that type of environment. … This should be an easy group to integrate based on those things."

That is one thing the Pacers really had problems with this season. None of their main offensive players were good without the ball - they all needed it to do their thing more or less by themselves. If Dun and Murph can help in that area, then the Pacers offense will have much better flow.

kerosene

01-20-2007, 03:19 PM

True UB. I like the trade for the Pacers' chemistry. It's a better fit for our franchise player and the type of team that Carlisle wants to put on the floor. And, if the Pacers start playing well I won't mind the salaries too much. But if nothing changes and we remain mediocre that'll be the anchor around our necks.

rexnom

01-20-2007, 03:19 PM

I found this quote from Rick interesting

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/preview_070120.html

We certainly want to able to do some things off of flow," Carlisle said. "We set up to be a better movement team than we’ve been because guys like Murphy and Dunleavy and Diogu play well in that type of environment. … This should be an easy group to integrate based on those things."

That is one thing the Pacers really had problems with this season. None of their main offensive players were good without the ball - they all needed it to do their thing more or less by themselves. If Dun and Murph can help in that area, then the Pacers offense will have much better flow.
If it's at all possible (for Rick to be excited) then I have to think that Rick is excited at the prospect of coaching this new team...

imawhat

01-20-2007, 03:26 PM

No one has ever said they aren't grossly overpaid. Even their biggest fans would agree with that.

----

I found this quote from Rick interesting

http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/preview_070120.html

We certainly want to able to do some things off of flow," Carlisle said. "We set up to be a better movement team than we’ve been because guys like Murphy and Dunleavy and Diogu play well in that type of environment. … This should be an easy group to integrate based on those things."

That is one thing the Pacers really had problems with this season. None of their main offensive players were good without the ball - they all needed it to do their thing more or less by themselves. If Dun and Murph can help in that area, then the Pacers offense will have much better flow.

Dunleavy can, not sure about Murphy. He's like Al in that he likes to find his spot and stand there. At least he'll attempt more screens than Al.

Mourning

01-20-2007, 03:26 PM

Yup! And so am I.

Unclebuck

01-20-2007, 03:52 PM

Sene, it is pretty scary to go to Hoopshype.com and look at the Pacers salaries. To actually see what Dun and Murph make and for how long it is amazing. What was Mullie thinking.

PaceBalls

01-20-2007, 04:00 PM

"Dunleavy and Murphy are considered role players"

Those are some expensive role players.

Kerosene... That's just a fantastic avatar. That is MDJunior there right?

PaceBalls

01-20-2007, 04:01 PM

Sene, it is pretty scary to go to Hoopshype.com and look at the Pacers salaries. To actually see what Dun and Murph make and for how long it is amazing. What was Mullie thinking.

or... What were Donnie and Larry thinking?

Maybe they just couldn't find anyone else to trade with. But JeezLouise.. those contracts are ugly!!

kerosene

01-20-2007, 04:15 PM

Kerosene... That's just a fantastic avatar. That is MDJunior there right?

Yep. Somebody on warriorsworld.net made it. There have been some really good photoshopped Dunleavy pics over the years there.

Unclebuck

01-20-2007, 04:30 PM

or... What were Donnie and Larry thinking?

Maybe they just couldn't find anyone else to trade with. But JeezLouise.. those contracts are ugly!!

I think that proves how much they wanted to get rid of Jackson and how mch they like Diogu as a player. And I think they believe Troy and Mike can be better with the Pacers.

Roferr

01-20-2007, 05:25 PM

or... What were Donnie and Larry thinking?

Maybe they just couldn't find anyone else to trade with. But JeezLouise.. those contracts are ugly!!

Compared to the Knicks, what the two get is chump change. Put it in perspective...their two salaries combined is less than what JO knocks down.

Roferr

01-20-2007, 05:32 PM

I think that proves how much they wanted to get rid of Jackson and how mch they like Diogu as a player. And I think they believe Troy and Mike can be better with the Pacers.

I still think that Murp and Mike were the main catalyst in the trade and RC has big plans for them. I think Diogu played a very minor role in the negotiations. Although, I think he is a great addition to the team and will be even more so in the future.